| Topic: | Reply | |
| Posted by: | Andrew OSullivan | |
| Date/Time: | 19/04/25 10:10:00 |
The problem is that English professional rugby needs to bring in more outside investment promotion and relegation significantly increases the risk of putting money into the sport. A perfectly drafted business plan can be ruined by a couple of injuries to key players and top teams already have a handicap of having to give up players for international teams. Whether you agree with the policy of not the game's administrators have already decided that you can't get into the Premiership unless you bring a reasonable amount of revenue to the table and the bar has been set at a five figure ground capacity. To be reasonably competitive a squad's salary bill need to be £2-3million and to get close to the top French, South African and Irish teams you start at £6-7million. Not all of this can come from TV revenues and sponsorship and only Sarries, Leicester and Northampton are anywhere near this level. Give the strength of grass roots and the level of participation, England should be dominant in world rugby yet they are consistently being beaten by Ireland and Scotland who have comparitively tiny player bases. The problems of the club game are only going to get worse. About 10% of the player pool in the Gallagher Premiership is South African but with sides from that country now in the URC and Champions Cup, the income disparity is reducing. A few marquee signings continue but it is going to be increasingly difficult to fill squads with good quality and cheap Saffas. Combine that with top English talent going to play in the Pro14 and a reduced potential for recruitment through residency due to the better players opting for the French league or the URC, there is a danger that England gets locked into that 6-8 world ranking and clubs from other countries reap most of the financial benefit of the Champions Cup. Key to reversing this trend would be more financially sustainable professional teams and that is why London Irish restarting was such good news. However, this has gone very quiet and all the initial optimism has evaporated. It looks increasingly likely that it is never happening, let alone happening in Brentford. |
| Topic | Date Posted | Posted By |
| London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 10:41:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 10:54:00 | Richard Greenhough |
| Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 11:14:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 12:02:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 12:51:00 | Alex Cavell |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 13:42:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 14/02/25 17:34:00 | Julian Pavey |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 15/02/25 08:46:00 | Brian Green |
| Reply | 15/02/25 10:23:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 15/02/25 10:31:00 | N V Brooks |
| Re:Reply | 15/02/25 19:08:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Re:Re:Reply | 15/02/25 23:11:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Reply | 16/02/25 07:59:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 16/02/25 20:55:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Re:Reply | 17/02/25 09:51:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Reply | 17/02/25 10:35:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 17/02/25 17:09:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Reply | 18/02/25 09:31:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Reply | 18/02/25 12:24:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 18/02/25 19:26:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Re:Re:Reply | 19/02/25 09:30:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:Re:Re:Reply | 19/02/25 16:57:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply | 20/02/25 09:04:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply | 20/02/25 10:03:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Reply | 21/02/25 09:10:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Reply | 21/02/25 11:55:00 | Michael Robinson |
| Reply | 21/02/25 12:21:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 21/02/25 13:47:00 | Michael Robinson |
| Reply | 21/02/25 14:52:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 21/02/25 15:53:00 | Michael Robinson |
| Reply | 21/02/25 17:35:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 21/02/25 19:47:00 | Michael Robinson |
| Re:Re:Reply | 21/02/25 21:07:00 | Simon Hayes |
| Reply | 22/02/25 07:56:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 24/02/25 10:13:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 25/02/25 16:54:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 25/02/25 17:11:00 | Richard Greenhough |
| Reply | 25/02/25 17:42:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 27/02/25 09:11:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 28/02/25 08:58:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 28/02/25 10:46:00 | Richard Greenhough |
| Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 28/02/25 15:22:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 15/02/25 10:31:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Reply | 15/02/25 10:54:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Rugby at GTech | 02/03/25 11:33:00 | David Tyler |
| Reply | 04/03/25 08:53:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 04/03/25 10:59:00 | N V Brooks |
| Reply | 04/03/25 15:08:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Reply | 05/03/25 08:29:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 08/03/25 10:17:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 10/03/25 04:17:00 | Ian Mortimer |
| Reply | 10/03/25 15:26:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 11/03/25 08:30:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Reply | 12/03/25 17:23:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 06/08/25 10:07:00 | Peter Cozens |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 06/08/25 10:27:00 | Michael Robinson |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 06/08/25 12:29:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 06/08/25 12:48:00 | Andrew Jones |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 06/08/25 13:05:00 | Michael Robinson |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 06/08/25 19:53:00 | Andrew Jones |
| Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 20/03/25 10:56:00 | Richard Greenhough |
| Re:Re:London Irish - the Boys are Back in Town? | 21/03/25 17:54:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 24/03/25 17:05:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 24/03/25 18:30:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Re:Re:Reply | 27/03/25 17:17:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 02/04/25 07:51:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 14/04/25 11:45:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Reply | 17/04/25 09:14:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 17/04/25 14:18:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Re:Re:Promotion & relegation | 17/04/25 16:16:00 | Richard Greenhough |
| Re:Re:Re:Promotion & relegation | 17/04/25 20:12:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Reply | 19/04/25 10:10:00 | Andrew OSullivan |
| Re:Reply | 19/04/25 15:40:00 | Denis I. Fox |
| Re:Re:Reply | 22/04/25 10:04:00 | Francis Rowe |
| Re:Re:Re:Reply | 02/05/25 13:14:00 | Francis Rowe |